Laurent Meunier, left, jokes with Florida teammate and fellow All-Star Marty Johnston during a break in the action at the 2003 ECHL All-Star skills competition in Estero.

Daily News

ESTERO - There will be very little time for Florida Everblades rookie goaltender David Shantz to gear down his emotions before his first appearance in a professional all-star game -- but nobody will be able to tell the difference.

Shantz, 20, leaves today for Boise, Idaho to represent the Everblades and the American Conference in the 15th annual ECHL All-Star Game, less than 12 hours after holding down the net in the second of back-to-back intense games with the South Carolina Stingrays. The soft-spoken, level-headed goalie won't be alone on the flight, however, as Everblades radio play-by-play voice and media relations director Kevin Reiter also is making the trip.

And head coach Gerry Fleming, who along with Texas' Malcolm Cameron were selected to coach the American Conference, is flying out Monday. Like Reiter, this is Fleming's second appearance.

Unfortunately for Shantz, none of his other Everblades teammates were selected, so it will be a little different than what last year's experience in Fresno, Calif. was like for defenseman Chris Lee. He was joined by forwards Daniel Sisca and Ernie Hartlieb.

"You know you're going there looking to have a lot of fun and it's a great time,'' Lee said. "There are a lot of great hockey players and a lot of people watching. It's an experience and you've just got to have fun with it. You know you have to try a little bit but at the same time it's just a fun thing and it's always done really well.''

This won't be Shantz's first experience at an all-star game, having played in a few during juniors as well as a couple international showcase games. He was a bit shocked at his selection, even though he is among the top 20 goaltenders in the league in goals-against-average and save percentage (16th with a 2.95 and 18th with a .908, respectively). But teammate Craig Kowalski ranks third (2.34) and fourth (.927).

Also, forwards Reggie Berg and Brent McDonald, among others, are having stellar seasons, so Shantz feels a little funny being the only one heading to to Idaho. Now on the flip side, the rest of the Everblades get to take a three-day break while Shantz is competing in Tuesday's skills competition and then Wednesday night's game at Qwest Arena.

"I couldn't understand how the selections came about, I thought for sure there would be other guys from our team with our record being at the top of the league,'' said Shantz, who has never been to Boise. "We've got some awesome players on this team and I thought there would be a lot more representation, but I think it's a situation where you just try to relax and enjoy the moment. It will be a good chance for me to get to know some of the other goalies.'''

On Tuesday night, Shantz will participate in the Rapid Fire competition, taking on Stockton's Nathan Martz and Idaho's Derek Nesbitt, and then he'll be in net for the Breakaway Relay. He will face Nesbitt, Alaska's Julian Talbot, Utah's Andy Sertich, Long Beach's Brandon Schwartz, Victoria's Milan Gajic and Fresno's Tom Walsh in that event.

So during the long cross-country flight, Reiter will be able to fill Shantz in on what to expect when he arrives and throughout the three days. He made his first all-star game appearance behind the microphone in 2003 in Southwest Florida at what was then called TECO Arena. That also was the first year Fleming was selected.

"That was actually my first time in this building, not knowing it was going to be where I would wind up working,'' said Reiter, who was in the same role with the Roanoke Express at the time. "It was an eye-opener and an awesome experience to be able to come down and be a part of all of that and it was certainly an honor. We also only had one player selected, Jason Jaffray, who was a rookie that year, so this year will be very similar, and it's a very busy three days.''

Reiter described the full itinerary, from autograph sessions, practices the morning of the skills competition and then the next day before the game, team pictures and a VIP gala after the skills competition, as well as another party after the actual game.

Tuesday night is treated like a night off for the announcers, but during the game Reiter will trade off with Mike Kelly from South Carolina and Mike O'Brien from Trenton doing play-by-play one period, color commentary one period and as a roving reporter behind the bench for a third period.

Unlike Shantz, Reiter and Fleming both have been to the city of Boise before, but Reiter missed out on one of the most popular tourist attractions.

"I talked to Mike O'Brien up in Trenton the other day and he said, 'I'm making it a goal of mine to go see the Smurf Turf,' '' Reiter said in reference to the blue artificial turf field at Boise State's football stadium. "I said, 'I'll go with you, I'll definitely go with you.' Because I didn't get a chance to go the first time.''

Shantz also plans on taking a trip to the Boise State campus to see the field, but being the mild-mannered professional that he is, the Florida Panthers prospect listed as his primary goal to represent his team and his conference well.

Then, upon his return, it'll be back to business as the Everblades head out on the road for two games with the Gwinnett Gladiators. Gwinnett is right on Florida's heels in the South Division standings, along with the Texas Wildcatters, and eliminated Florida from the last year's playoffs.

BY THE NUMBERS: Berg entered Saturday night's game with South Carolina ranked eighth in the ECHL in goals scored with 19, 13th in scoring with 38 points, tied for third in shorthanded goals with three and first in insurance goals with five. ... Lee is tops in the league in shootouts with three shootout goals on three attempts and two shootout winners. ... McDonald is tied for the second in shorthanded goals with four, Dustin Johner has three and Jonathan Lehun and rookie Brad Zancanaro each have two. ... Kowalski is ninth among goalies in wins with 13 and Shantz is 11th with 11. Kowalski also is fifth in shutouts with two and Shantz has the third-best shootout record at 3-0. ... Florida as a team dropped to 19th overall on the power play at 15.2 percent but climbed up to sixth overall on the penalty kill at 85.4 percent.